Welcome back! Episode two of Creative Risk features Nate Nichols, a NYC based entrepreneur, self-made businessman, and creative director of Palette Group, an international creative agency that produces original and branded content.
Nate’s story takes us on a journey from his life as an art school graduate living month to month, to a partner in an agency, to buying that company and starting his own business. We revisit lessons learned from mentors and the pivotal role travel played in giving him much needed perspective. We learn how Nate gets daring clients – from underwear brand Saxx to Footlocker – to take cultural risks in their branded content.
In this episode Nate shares with us what it means to walk in dignity with culture. This is a story of a creative entrepreneur who learned to live in the vision of running his own creative business that is in alignment with his values.
Nate’s story inspires us to surround ourselves with smart, creative, helpful human beings, to build creative teams that are bigger than the sum of their parts, and to reconnect with our ancestral roots for inspiration.
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Being a Creative Role Model
Nate used to live in Philadelphia and volunteered his time speaking with middle school students about his work in creative business. He brings the same enthusiasm to his work today.
Behind the Scenes of Creative Risk



See the entire set of photos by Rengim Mutevellioglu here: https://workspace.picter.com/v/P5TkbIo4
Show Notes
- Saxx https://www.saxxunderwear.com/
- Question the Rules: of Men https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_OCOeKmbiYQ6VOSkNMWaOg
- Kool Herc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Kool_Herc
- Red Bamboo https://www.redbamboo-nyc.com/
- Scott Hawthorne, Native Shoes https://www.earnshaws.com/2016/06/qa/going-native/
- Footlocker Black History Month Campaign https://www.palettegrp.com/case-studies/foot-locker-now-next
- Wanda Sykes – Not Normal https://www.netflix.com/title/81011598
- Chutzpah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutzpah
- Gary Vaynerchuk https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/
Credits
- Written, produced, and edited by Gabriel Shalom.
- Recorded by Cory Choy at Silver Sound in New York City.
- Engineering and original music by Alberto de Angeli.
Special thanks to Palette Group for use of the excerpt from Question the Rules: of Men.